Engaging members to winBargaining Unit 17 Chair Kim Cowart Fights for Change by Activating Her Coworkers

NotificationOctober 25, 2018

Whether she’s enforcing contract language to reduce/eliminate the
dangerous practice of mandatory overtime or improving the
recruitment and retention of registered nurses across the state,
Kim Cowart believes that the key to success is engaged
members.

“We have accomplished so much through members who have stepped
up,” she says, adding “by harnessing the passion of my coworkers
who want better jobs and better working conditions, we are
overcoming obstacles together.”

A 19-year state employee, she’s been a job steward since 2002
when she decided to empower herself with knowledge about her
contract rights after seeing a coworker bullied by a
supervisor.

She’s been a member of the Unit 17 bargaining team since 2004 and
the chair since 2011. Kim is heavily involved in enforcing
hard-won contract language that will reduce or eliminate
mandatory overtime by July 1, 2019. She was part of a strong
union effort that attracted new activists and leaders who took
the fight to their individual workplaces to track and report
overtime abuse.

“When we engage new members, we get new voices that help us
create innovative solutions to the problems we face,” Cowart
said.

Kim is regularly inspired by a quote from a fellow member of the
Unit 17 bargaining team. “It’s not about you … it’s about us; the
bargaining unit and all the members we represent.”